If you know me, you know I live for sentimentality – and Bea’s wedding had it in droves.
Most of it centered around her grandmother, the Queen – Beatrice wore a dress loaned to her from Her Majesty (not Her Majesty’s wedding dress, but one that she wore to a couple of events in the 1960s – though both Her Majesty’s and Beatrice’s wedding dresses were both designed by Norman Hartnell) and wore the same tiara the Queen wore on her own wedding day in 1947. In fact, the date of Beatrice and Edoardo’s nuptials was chosen to accommodate the Queen’s schedule, and the Queen and Philip were two of less than 20 guests that made the cut.
*cue tears* I read that the Queen saved her own wedding tiara especially for Beatrice and only Beatrice in this generation of Royal Weddings, as the two are remarkably close.
Here’s what else I know:
· Edo’s son, Wolfie (full name Christopher Woolf Mapelli Mozzi), played a very important role in the ceremony – he was pageboy and his father’s best man.
· This is the first time a Royal has become a stepmother upon her first marriage.
· Andrew walked Beatrice down the aisle.
· In addition to honoring the Queen in her choice of wedding dress, Beatrice’s dress resembles that of her mother, Sarah, at her own wedding in 1986.
· Bea and Edo chose to delay the photos of their wedding by a day (taken by photographer Benjamin Wheeler) so as not to take away from the investiture of Captain Tom Moore, the World War II veteran that was honored by the Queen yesterday. Busy day for Her Majesty, I’ll say!
· Designer Norman Hartnell was a popular choice back in the day – not only did he design the Queen’s wedding dress, he also designed the wedding dress of her sister, Princess Margaret.
· From Buckingham Palace: Beatrice’s dress “is made from Peau De Soie taffeta in shades of ivory, trimmed with ivory Duchess satin, with organza sleeves. It is encrusted with diamanté and has a geometric checkered bodice.”
· Angela Kelly, the Queen’s longtime dressmaker, and designer Stewart Parvin – who designed Bea’s cousin Zara’s wedding dress – helped remodel and fit the vintage gown for Bea.
· The Queen wore the dress at least twice, to a state dinner in Rome in 1961 and to the premiere of Lawrence of Arabia in 1962.
· The exact name of Bea’s tiara is the Queen Mary diamond fringe tiara.
· Princess Anne also wore her mother’s tiara for her wedding.
· The flowers! Oh my. Apparently Beatrice wanted a “secret garden” wedding theme.
· Edo’s ring is a vintage gold band designed by Josh Collins.
· The wedding was at 11 a.m. yesterday.
· The couple were married at the chapel on the grounds of Bea’s childhood home, Royal Lodge.
· From Town & Country: “The Palace released details of Princess Beatrice’s bouquet. It was made from ‘trailing jasmine, pale pink and cream sweet peas, royal porcelain ivory spray roses, pink o’hara garden roses, pink wax flower and baby pink astilbes.’ In keeping with royal tradition, sprigs of myrtle were included in the bouquet, a tradition that began with the wedding of Queen Victoria’s oldest child, Princess Victoria.”
· Beatrice laid her bouquet at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey after the ceremony.
· Bea opted to use the same florist from younger sister Eugenie’s wedding day in 2018.
· Readings at the service included the popular 1 Corinthians 13 passage, as well as Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 and e.e. Cummings’ “I Carry You in My Heart.”
· Because of (stupid) coronavirus, “God Save the Queen” was played, but not sung.
· Our duchesses Kate and Meghan weren’t there – but very few were. If there were less than 20 people there, Bea, Edo, Wolfie, the Queen, Philip, Andrew, Fergie, Eugenie, and presumably Eugenie’s husband Jack make up nearly half the guest list.
· Beatrice always wanted a low-key wedding, so this was perfect for her, sources say. Guests called it “private, intimate, and romantic.”
So happy for this truly in love couple that, despite everything, they finally got their special day.
Stay tuned for a second special post showing the wedding dresses of the eldest six of the Queen’s eight grandchildren (or their wives)! Next Royal Wedding? Louise or James, the children of Edward and Sophie – but they’re only teenagers, so it’ll be a little bit.